Boomer vs Millennial Marketing

Simply put, advertising-design is matchmaking. Depending on the target audience you’re trying to attract to your brand, you could be using traditional mediums such as radio, print or television for one generation and social media for another. Not all generations swipe right on the same medium. Here I will provide a breakdown of the best ways to market to two generations of spending power: Baby Boomers and Millennials.

Boomers (born 1946-1964) grew up reading cereal boxes and the Sears catalogue. Give them a newspaper ad, a shiny magazine spread, or even a piece of snail mail, and they’ll read it. In fact, Boomers treat flyers, direct mail and coupons like winning lottery tickets. Want to reach a Boomer? Send them a direct mail with a coupon and watch them walk into your store, ad in hand.

Millennials, also known as Gen Y (born 1981-1996) consider mailboxes mysterious portals for fake bills and government letters. They prefer push notifications, pop-ups, and the occasional SMS notice that somehow arrives from the social media universe.

When it comes to social media, Boomers have colonized Facebook like it’s the second coming of bingo night. Just head to the Powderhorn Saloon on such a night and you’ll see what I mean. Lots of grey hair in the crowd. It’s where they revel on vacation pics with their motorbikes or share posts about how 10,000 daily steps prevents memory loss. Want to reach them? Use a boosted Facebook post (we’ll chat about those in a future article) with big text, clear instructions, and at least one mention of “second hip replacement 50% off.”

Millennials on the other hand, have mostly ghosted Facebook in favor of more short-lived thrills. Instagram stories, YouTube Reels, and TikToks are where it’s at. But you’d better be quick. If your ad takes more than 3 seconds to get to the point, they’ll scroll faster than you can say “more wasabi please.”

What about radio? To a Boomer it’s like having a friend that knows almost everything about everything. They trust the voice coming out of the car radio like it’s gospel. AM/FM is the soundtrack to their morning commute to the golf club. Want to make a Boomer trust your brand? Have a smooth-voiced announcer talk about your business on air between hits from Supertramp.

Millennials, on the other hand, are in long-term relationship with podcasts. Want to sell them something? Sponsor a podcast hosted by a semi-famous actor discussing mental health or a comedian reflecting on pop-culture. Millennials are 42% more likely to buy something if it comes with a promo code like “MILLENNIALSNEEDPURPOSE30.”

And who reads email ads? Boomers do. If your subject line says “Offer ends today” they’ll click it. They’ll even forward it to all their friends. Boomers think of emails like digital newsletters, not annoying pop-ups in disguise.

Marketing to Boomers? Go old-school. Use newspapers, radio, email and Facebook.

Marketing to Millennials? Think new school. Use influencers, Instagram, TikTok, and passive-aggressive in-app reminders.

And if you’re targeting both? Good luck. You’ll need a campaign that runs in the National Post and comes with a QR code that launches a TikTok challenge.

Until next month, use plenty of sunscreen. And walk.

Cheers, mark.